Spurs boss sends message to Serge Aurier following red card at West Ham

Mauricio Pochettino has defended Serge Aurier following the defender’s red card at West Ham, but also warned him to be more careful in the future.

Tottenham were 3-1 up at the London Stadium before Aurier’s dismissal for a needless second yellow card. The visitors ended up hanging on to a 3-2 victory.

“I cannot blame him,” Pochettino after the game. “I cannot blame anyone when this type of situation happens because I was a player and you can find on Google many, many mistakes from me.

“It’s not easy to keep calm. Me on the touchline, it was the same. Sometimes you make a mistake but that is football. There’s no problem.

“For me, it’s not a big issue. I am happy with him. He made a mistake because he had a yellow card but I think the first yellow card, he didn’t deserve. And I’m sure that he’d agree that in this type of action, he needs to be careful.

He added: “The important thing that everyone needs to understand is that his preseason wasn’t the best, like with Davinson [Sanchez]. He needs time to improve. We are in the middle of the competition and it’s not easy for a player that comes, like [Fernando] Llorente too. They need time.

“But he is doing very well. Maybe not playing against Huddersfield [through suspension] will help him to train hard and get fit as soon as possible and improve, because when you cannot play, we are a coaching staff that pushes a lot and tries to provide him with the best fitness quality and tactics and everything.”

“His reputation is not about getting sent off many times. His behaviour is fantastic on the team, since he arrived. The teammates love him. He is a very good teammate and he is very good friends with Kieran Trippier, who he competes with for the same position.” [Quotes via ESPN.]

Aurier is likely to start against APOEL in the Champions League on Tuesday night considering he is suspended for Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield.